Portland2010 Biennial Artists Announced

Well played, Criss Moss. Curator Moss today announced the lineup for the latest incarnation of the Oregon Biennial, now a Portland Biennial called Portland2010. Portland2010 is a project that Disjecta took on after Portland Art Museum put the Oregon Biennial to bed in favor of the Contemporary Northwest Art Awards. For some reason still having the "Oregon" biennial on-the-brain, I was surprised to see so many Portland-based artists, but then it is the Portland2010 now. This makes one wonder why the Springfield-based Ditch Projects is included but at the same time grateful as trips to Springfield, Oregon from which Ditch Projects operates have been impossible/improbable. When I’ve seen work by Ditch’s Mike Bray or Donald Morgan, I’ve wanted to see more. So thanks, Criss Moss! And thanks for this list:

First reaction: yes! Good that Moss has included the performative (Oregon Painting Society and Tahni Holt) as well as some of the most interesting artists to which Portland is home. The inclusion of equally rigorous and imaginative artists like Pat Boas, Jenene Nagy, Melody Owen, and Heidi Schwegler (among others) mean that Portland2010 will be a showcase of Portland work that likely will both be exportable and will stand the test of time. The recent inclusion of Orleonok Pitkin in a show at Worksound, though, demonstrated the value of cross-generational fertilization, so here’s hoping future iterations reach further afield age-wise.

It is a little confusing that, "The work of eighteen Oregon visual and performance-based artists will be presented as a series of one-person exhibitions beginning March 13 at Disjecta and spreading to satellite venues throughout Portland, including Rocksbox, IFCC, Marylhurst Art Gym, Elizabeth Leach Gallery and Alpern Gallery through May 30." So for two and a half months there will be scattered one-person exhibitions? How does it tie in to a cohesive Biennial (it’s feeling more like PICA’s TBA model) but perhaps even more diffuse. 18 artists in 6 venues in solo shows? Who gets to show in Disjecta’s expansive space? Will be interesting to see the mechanics of this (noting that collaboration is almost always a good good thing). I am deeply anticipating Portland2010.